Amazon scandal could see resurgence in print, says Bookseller boss

By Kitty Knowles 14 October 2015 - The Memo

As Amazon is rocked by reports of phoney authors and fake reviews1, The Memo asks Bookseller editor Philip Jones about the uncertain future of publishing.

This week The Memo reported that phoney authors had been employing Amazon reviewers to help them cheat their way into the bestseller charts.

This sprawling network of fraudsters, uncovered by a Sunday Times investigation, sees many reviewers being paid as little as £3 to leave five-star ratings, while ‘authors’ make hundreds of thousands of dollars ghostwriting shoddy texts.

Whether blame is pointed at the fake authors, the misleading reviewers, or Amazon as a platform, one thing is certain: it will be readers who have been missing out.

At a time when the harmonious existence of print and ebooks remains uncertain, what impact will this have on the publishing industry?
Were industry insiders aware of the breadth of the problem? And what can Amazon do to turn the tide?
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